Slav 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 plan

Sort:
BSKag

After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 I want to play Nh4 to win the bishop pair. Black can play Be4 and only play Bg6 after f2-f3, he can play Bg4 or he can play Bg6 immediately.

Can someone give me some general knowledge of this plan from white's perspective or refer me to a good source? What is white's plan afterthe exchange on g6? When should the exchange take place? Should white castle queenside? What are the ups and downs of black's responses and what will black's plans be?

moonnie

Whites plan is generally .. take the bishop pair and try to open the game to make the bishop pair work it is a long term plan and not very fixed. This assumes you know how to play with the bisshop pair what probably is not the case if your irl rating is near your chess.com rating. 

You generally do no castle queenside because the c file will be opened one time or another (either by black or by white) so your king might be a bit shakey on the c file. In general you castle either short or put your king on f2 (specially after the systems with an easy white f3). It seems to be rather nicely placed on f2. 

I learned this system from the white side from Aravuk's grandmaster rep series. They are however aimed at 1800+ and are getting a little outdated so following games is needed. 

Chewie1200

hey moonnie...so anand is not a decent slav player?  somehow I find that hard to believe.  He's number 2 in the world, I think he's probably decent at least.  What's your rating that you can criticize his play?

Chewie1200

1640, nice, will you give me lessons so I can be better than super gm's like you?

moonnie

@Chewie1200 my post was a small sarcastic comment on pawndilligers comment that good slav players would not retreat to g6 while in fact is is one of the main lines used by all of the worlds top players,  something that is pretty clear from my post. I suggest your learn to read posts and treads carefully before trying to be funny by insulting people. I also suggest not to invest in a carreer in standup comedy

Update: As he removed his comment I also removed mine now

aggressivesociopath

I was under the impression that PawnDillinger confused the line 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 for the line 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Nh4.